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My C-Beam 3D Printer

Discussion in '3D printers' started by evilc66, Jul 27, 2016.

  1. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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    Here is the thing I found in their PDF and that is "Do not use isopropyl alcohol or brake cleaner or other harsh industrial cleaners as these will reduce adhesion and may damage the surface." Now with PEI it is said to use 70-91% alcohol to clean it so maybe this isn't PEI afterall?
     
  2. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    Interesting. Can you link me the pdf? I don't see it on Mutley3D's site.
     
  3. Argentum Fox

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    Thanks for the list evilc66, I noticed you're going to use a 24v hot end so a 24v power supply is there any reason for this also what's plan for bed leveling?
    I also searched hard for some G10/garolite here in the UK, but not having much luck any other stiff materials I could use?
     
  4. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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  5. Argentum Fox

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  6. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    Higher voltage allows for faster acceleration, and higher speeds (speed will be limited on how fast your controller can pump out the steps to the driver though).

    Have you tried these guys? Don't be afraid of larger companies. If they won't sell to you in small volume, make up a company name and see if you can get samples (I can't tell you the number of times I've done that with success). You don't have to get into specifics. Just say "Hello. I'm working for company so-and-so, and I'm looking for Garolite or a similar material for an upcoming project. Can I get some samples from you?" If they start getting nosey, just tell them you can't discuss the details at this time as it's a very sensitive topic. That will get them to back off pretty quick.
     
  7. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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  8. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    That's pretty interesting that it's FR4. That would explain the grain that I see mentioned, and why you can't use caustic chemicals with it (isopropyl alcohol is used as a thinning agent for epoxy resin). FR4 is pretty dimensionally stable, but it's really not what I would consider flat when compared to glass or cast tooling plate (which is ground flat).

    Also interesting for you @Argentum Fox is that FR4 and Garolite are the same thing (Garolite usually comes in more colors than FR4). If you can't find a ready source of Garolite, then you may be able to find FR4. Also, depending on your build plate size and weight, you may be able to use some moderately thick high quality plywood. It's pretty stiff and light, but you need to keep the humidity in the room under control or it may warp on you.
     
  9. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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    Reason I said UGH to FR4 because I have yet to see it flat OR stay flat. Same stuff the MK2 heated beds are made from and they are far from flat.
     
  10. Argentum Fox

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    Yeah i thought of ply and MDF but the printer will be living in the garage and well its the UK :)
    But i did has you said and asked for some samples, it feels a bit cheeky but they can only say yes or no.
     
  11. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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    Nine months of the year the room the printer is in suffers 70-90% humidity so if it isn't stainless for metal or well protected for wood it will self destruct. Nothing better than seeing MDF delaminate and you can flip through the layers like pages in a book. :/
     
  12. Atomist

    Atomist New
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    Would you happen to have your Misumi part numbers? I am trying to find the brace extrusions, but I must be blind!
     
  13. Argentum Fox

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    E-Catalog

    AEX Corner Gussets.
     
  14. Atomist

    Atomist New
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    Heh, I found them right after I posted. The picture was throwing me off, the drawing makes it look like a 3 sides bracket, but it's a 45 degree extrusion. Thanks for posting, good to have the info in the thread.
     
  15. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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    Those were on my list but I thought they were a 3 sided bracket too so I didn't look any farther. I wish OB had those and I am still unsure which one to buy because I plan on using 20x40, 20x60, and even some 20x80.
     
  16. Atomist

    Atomist New
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    For the 20x40 I'd buy the 40x40 brace extrusion, as far as I can tell it's just 40mm to 40mm. Then I also saw some called 30x60. It looked like those would work for the 20x60 since the measurements I saw were 3 screw holes across 60mm to 60mm. I mean you could just use all 40mm and offset if need be. To be honest, this build is WAY overkill for a 3d printer. 20mmx40mm extrusion would be perfectly adequate IMO. A lot of it comes down to aesthetics more than rigidity. Of course if you plan to do more than 3D printer with it...that's another story. Just my opinion based on my experience with 3D printers and building machines with OpenBuilds parts.
     
  17. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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    Yep, I plan on way overkilling it after my disaster of a first printer build I ever made. Sort of odd they don't have 20x20 in one of these as that I would have the most use for and would work for everything.

    Suddenly I remembered what the old 80/20 inc used to call this stuff and sure enough there it was under "Series 5". OUCH, at the price for it.
     
  18. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    Yeah, they were a little spend, but they fit the bill, and also fit with the bolt on mantra. What's nice about getting them from Miami is that you can get them any length you want. At this point, $70 was a drop in the bucket compared to the $700+ I dropped in the OB store!
     
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  19. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    Well, I'm not particularly thrilled with Uberclock (US distributor for Smoothie). It took them 4 days to get my order to the USPS drop site, and I'm sure that's only because I prodded them yesterday with an email asking what the deal was (they didn't actually reply to my email). Hopefully this is a limited occurrence. My Smoothieboard x5 should be in my grubby little mitts by Wednesday.
     
  20. Argentum Fox

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    May I ask what display you'll be using with the smoothieboard?
     
  21. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    No display at this point. I'm just going to be running the machine through Reptier Host, mainly because it's what I'm familiar with (I have a laptop in my garage that sits next to the workbench where the printer will live). Once I get the machine in a happy state, I may start looking into the ethernet connection option to see how that all works.
     
  22. Argentum Fox

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    Any updates on your build? I'm really looking forward to see this in action.
     
  23. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    A little. I said I would get pictures, and I will :) Last week got a little busy. I'll post an update once I get home tonight.
     
  24. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    So, I've been really terrible with getting pictures posted, as well as finding time and motivation to continue working on it.

    Well, I got it moving under its own steam tonight! Still need to tweak a few things electrically, like changing the Y and Z motor direction, fixing the extruder motor wiring (no movement), and checking the output for the heatbed SSR. I would have done that tonight, but it was getting late.

    Here it is on its current state:

    [​IMG]

    Other than fixing the above issues, all I need to finish are the end stops.
     
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  25. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    Fixed the directions on the axes and the output for the heated bed. The extruder channel seems to be not functioning properly though, and I'm not sure why just yet. The extruder is on the epsilon channel (channel 5), as gamma and delta are running the Z-axis (if you don't know, Smoothieware labels their axes alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon as this can be used on machines that don't conform to the cartesian format, like delta printers). I have changed the step, enable, and direction pin assignment for the first extruder to point to that channel, but all it seems to do when you tell it to move is just shake the stepper. It doesn't turn, but just oscillates back and forth. The motor is fine (tested on a working channel, and the current is set to what it needs to be (it's a small Nema17 pancake motor rated for 1A). I've tried it with another motor too, and I get the same results. Hopefully the driver isn't damaged.

    I think I'm going to wire up a quick DRV8825 breakout board to connect to the pin headers on the Smoothieboard to see if I cooked the driver somehow. Don't know how I would have done that, as it never worked from the start. It's possible it was defective, but who knows.
     
  26. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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    What would you suggest for a printbed that is 300x300mm? I will be using tool plate but I loved my boro on the I3 because as soon as it cooled the part would just do a ker plink and pop off on its own. I have another printer with a buildtak like surface and I am bending the bed to get the part off so I need something else for the new printer.
     
  27. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    PEI is just like glass when it comes to releasing parts, but it doesn't need prep for ABS. Just print and go. You don't need to mush the first layer into it as bas as you normally would. It's far more durable than most build surfaces like Buildtak, but leaves a glass smooth bottom surface.

    I stick mine down with a 3M adhesive, but I've seen others clip it on like glass.

    It's a little more pricey, but I think it's worth it
     
  28. DarkAlchemist

    DarkAlchemist Well-Known
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    How would you clip it on as I have only ever seen the thin PEI tape and I use ABS, PLA, and PETG and will be branching out to Nylon, and flexible next year which is why I am building this printer.
     
  29. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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  30. evilc66

    evilc66 Journeyman
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    The extruder motor started working last night. I have no idea what happened to change the situation from the day before, but all I did was remove the board from the wall to inspect the solder joints for the stepper connector to make sure all 4 connections were correct. There were no problems, but it started working once I put it all back together. It's really infuriating when you have no idea how you fixed something.

    I did find out that the fan that I bought for print cooling (40x20mm fan) is a piece of crap. Ran for all of about 30 seconds, then died. I'm not even going to bother dealing with the vendor, as I don't want another of the same fan. Ordered a high quality Sunon replacement that will be here next week.
     

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